July 18, 2006

Hello everyone,

Renowned music director Mani Sarma has defined new dimensions and set new horizons to Telugu film music and has earned himself a worthy place among legendary music directors of the Telugu film industry. He is the top music director of Telugu films and has composed music for various blockbusters in the past decade. Taking time out of his busy schedule, Mani garu is touring various cities in the US along with his troupe enthralling audience across various cities with his exuberant and lively music concerts. On July 15th, 2006, Mani Sarma performed with his troupe at the Hindu temple in Chicago. The musical concert was organized by Telugu Association of Greater Chicago (TAGC) in coordination with Sri. Neil Mudigonda.

A delightful music loving audience thoroughly enjoyed every bit of the 3 hour concert where various chartbusters were rendered by the troupe of Mani garu. Singer Gangadhar introduced the singers and orchestra amidst cheers and applause from the audience. He referred to Mani garu as “SWARA BRAHMA” who has the uncanny knack of composing excellent music for all his movies for the past decade.

The program began with the rendering of prayer by Gangadhar and was then followed by various hit songs composed by the master music director Sri. Mani Sarma. Songs from blockbusters INDRA, TAGORE, CHOODALANI VUNDI, SAMARA SIMHA REDDY, NARASIMHA NAIDU, KUSHI, OKKADU, ATHADU and recent blockbuster POKIRI were rendered by singers Mallikarjuna, Vinod, Sunitha and Usha. Gangadhar enthralled the audience with his unblemished and chaste Telugu oratory and songs of legend Sri. Ghantasala. The orchestra consisted of Chinna (keyboard), Sai and Karthik (rhythm), Balaji and Raghava (sound).

Audience danced to gay abandon for various mass songs and also enjoyed the mellifluous melodies rendered by the singers. The highlight of the evening was the visibly vibrant Mani garu going to the crowds and meeting fans when Usha rendered the sensational hit song “DOLE DOLE” song from POKIRI. Singer Mallikarjuna proved his admiration for Chiru by dancing to some of Megastar’s songs on the stage for which the audience responded with loud cheers and whistles. The chants of “STALIN” were heard on regular intervals from the galleries.

The program concluded with TAGC felicitating the artists who took part in the concert. Mani garu felicitated Neil Mudigonda for coordinating the whole tour. The concert became one of THE most successful and enjoyable concerts in recent times in Chicago with every audience member enjoying to his/her fullest. The biggest souvenir for Mani garu, his team and the organizers was that none of the audience members showed any signs of leaving the hall for more than one hour after the completion of the concert! Fans and admirers flanked Mani garu and other artists with requests for autographs and photos, which the artists gladly obliged.

- Sreekanth Devarakonda
[email protected]

Also check out (2006 Summer musical nights by Telugu celebritiest
• Padmaja B on Hema Chandra's musical night in Chicago
• Nagadurga Chinnapareddy on Mani Sharma musical night in VA
• Connoisseur on Karunya's musical night in Indianapolis